


Dead Men Walking

by Manderine (Manderin3)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Azure Moon Chapter 16: The Rose-Colored River, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, Introspection, M/M, Mutual Pining, Retrospective, Reunions, Screenplay/Script Format, Self-Denial, Self-Hatred, Tragedy of Duscur (Fire Emblem), depictions of death and violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23210008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manderin3/pseuds/Manderine
Summary: Dedue considered himself dead on the day of the Tragedy, and it was only Dimitri who saved him. When Dimitri's survival relied on him, Dedue knew he had to return the favor. Even when they both give their lives for each other, there is still much that goes unsaid.(A playscript in which Dedue and Dimitri lay bare their emotions amidst times of both turmoil and hesitant peace, and how their relationship evolves during their togetherness and separation.)
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Dedue Molinaro
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Dead Men Walking

**Author's Note:**

> This piece is very experimental in terms of its formatting and how I really get into the knitty-gritty about how Dedue and Dimitri characterize and react to various key points in the plot, including my own interpretations on how the Tragedy of Duscur and Dimitri's escape went down. The script is written to be performable, with a read-out running time of around 17 minutes. There are no hypothetical set pieces or props with the intention that various interactions and changes in scene are depicted through two actors alone. I've always been wanting to make an attempt at playwriting, and since I still have a lot I want to explore with these characters, it was a launching point I eagerly jumped on. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> (Content warning: This piece does cover Faerghus' violence against Duscur as well as going into detail about Dimitri's struggles with his visions and self-loathing.)

_ (Lights up on an empty stage. A moment passes before  _ **Dedue** _ emerges alone from stage right, somewhat aimlessly. He is visibly afraid, but is managing to keep a relatively stoic composure.) _

**Dedue:** I am a dead man walking. I have been for years now. On that day, I should have died with the rest of my people. I was supposed to… but in the end, it wasn’t what was planned for me.

_ (He begins to head towards centerstage, growing more anxious as he describes the scene.) _

**Dedue:** I still remember how it started all those years ago. My sister and I were sent to hide in our parents’ bedroom. We were silent, afraid to even breathe… but in the silence, we were forced to listen. There was a loud crash from the soldiers bursting through the front door, knocking over furniture during the struggle. My mother had made such an ungodly sound when they had killed Father. I had never heard her scream like that before. Then she died, too, and we knew we couldn’t stay. As we climbed out the window, one of them spotted us, and we ran faster than we thought we knew how. It was all we could do, and the only thing grounding me was Sonya’s hand in mine as she led the way… _(He reaches out with a hand, pantomiming the action.)_ then she stopped. I was dragged back by the weight of her body. She was pinned to the ground by the javelin that impaled her. There was nothing I could do, but I couldn’t abandon her! In her last breaths, she begged me to run, but all I did was stand there and watch the light drain from her eyes, my hand still clinging onto hers… _(He finally puts his hand down.)_ I eventually forced myself to leave her. I couldn’t stand looking at her body. It was so different from how she had always been, so stiff, so vacant. I tried to keep going, but my lungs burned, my chest was set to burst, I could barely breathe. _(He falls to his knees. His voice becomes more desperate.)_ I tripped and collapsed. I couldn’t bring myself to get back up, the weight of it all was too much. My mother, my father, my sister… they were gone. My neighbors, my childhood friends, all of their bodies piled around me among the smoke and flames. Aside from the soldiers now gaining on me, I was alone. At that moment, I knew it was over.

_ (As  _ **Dedue** _ is speaking,  _ **Dimitri** _ enters from stage left, visibly shaken. He has yet to notice  _ **Dedue** _.) _

**Dimitri:** On that day, my life as I knew it was over. My father, my step-mother, everyone I knew was dead, but there was so much chaos that my mind could barely comprehend anything. All of the soldiers had turned on Duscur, slaying its people left and right with a frenzy I had never witnessed in my life. They weren’t warriors, for any resistance had been stamped out long ago, but civilians. Elders, women, children, all being bled out as if they were no more than livestock! They were going to kill them all. _(He comes further forward, growing more frantic.)_ There was nothing I could do! I wanted them to stop; had I been more assertive, would they have even listened? I felt powerless…. I walked the streets by myself, for the royal knights were too busy laying waste to the countryside, murdering innocents without a shred of regard! Everything destroyed, nothing left untouched. I came to assume there wasn’t another soul left. _(He turns towards_ **Dedue** _upstage.)_ But then, I was proven wrong… for I saw him. _(He_ _begins to slowly approach_ **Dedue** _.)_ He couldn’t have been much older than me. He looked so feeble, thrown to the ground like some terrified animal, stained with blood that I knew wasn’t his own. Who had he lost? He was abandoned…. He reminded me of myself.

**Dedue:** _ (Lifting his arms to defend himself.)  _ One of them raised their sword at me. I couldn’t run, I couldn’t move–

**Dimitri:** It could’ve easily been me. Why must he be struck down when I still stand? There has to be something I can do–

**Dedue:** I’m sorry, Sonya, I couldn’t make it–

**Dimitri:** My body moved on its own, I had no time to think–  _ (He bursts towards  _ **Dedue** _.) _

**Dedue:** I’ll be joining the rest of them–   
  
**Dimitri:** NO!! _ (He throws himself between  _ **Dedue** _ and the imagined soldier, taking the sword strike for him.  _ **Dimitri** _ reels in pain, but forces himself to stay standing and rigid for a second before falling into  _ **Dedue’s** _ arms. There is a long moment of silence between them before  _ **Dedue** _ speaks.) _

**Dedue:** I had never seen him before in my life, yet he took the blow that was meant for me. The soldiers stepped back. They were shocked…. He was one of them. At first, I thought they had killed him, but I could feel his violent shivers as he clung on to life. When they tried to reach for him, he finally spoke:

**Dimitri:** _(Strained.)_ Don’t… hurt him… 

_ ( _ **Dedue** _ helps  _ **Dimitri** _ to his feet, who staggers, leaning on  _ **Dedue** _ for support.) _

**Dedue:** I followed him out of the wreckage of my home. I remained by his side as he was tended to, following him all the way back to Fhirdiad. I wasn’t meant to come back with him, gods know that they would have leapt on any excuse to cast me aside, or even put me to death!  _ (He looks down at  _ **Dimitri** _ , who is disoriented and still clinging to  _ **Dedue** _ , weakly meeting his gaze.)  _ But he needed me, just as I needed him. All we had left was each other, as if the horror of it all had tethered us together. No matter how the nobles spoke of me, or the looks I was given, or the other myriads of ways the Faerghans belittled me, I didn’t dare to imagine ever parting from him. Dimitri became my only home.

_ ( _ **Dimitri** _ unlinks himself from  _ **Dedue** _ , stepping forward.) _

**Dimitri:** Bringing him with me to Garreg Mach was of no doubt in my mind. We already became close enough in those first few years we spent together, and I knew he was more than capable of excelling there, regardless of his own insisting otherwise.  _ (He looks back to  _ **Dedue** _.) _ Perhaps it was unwise of me to drag him along, but I couldn’t stand the thought of abandoning him at the castle. When he agreed, I realized that neither of us were quite ready to be rid of each other’s company. I wished that the others would see his potential, but their ignorance persisted. Despite it all, Dedue still treated everyone with kindness. I knew much of it was forced upon him, since who knows what kind of abuse he would’ve suffered had he posed any rebellious ideas, but he held within himself such virtue that I had never seen before. He was so diligent, I couldn’t help but admire him for it. I wanted so desperately for the others to value him the same way.  _ (He again turns toward  _ **Dedue** _ , slowly approaching him as he speaks, eventually taking his hands.)  _ Throughout everything, his presence was constant and, selfishly enough, I found comfort within him. I hated to see the way he regarded himself, and I wanted more than anything to convince him otherwise, to see himself the way I saw him.  _ ( _ **Dimitri** _ and  _ **Dedue** _ look deep into each other’s eyes, caught up in their closeness.) _ I had gotten so close towards getting him to believe it. I had let my guard down, becoming pliant to his gentle nature…  _ ( _ **Dimitri** _ abruptly turns away from  _ **Dedue** _ , walking off to downstage left.)  _ Of course, cruel as the world was, it was a happiness that was short lived.

**Dedue:** **_(_ ** _ He keeps his eyes on  _ **Dimitri** _ as he speaks.)  _ When the monastery was attacked, Dimitri was ever at the forefront of my mind. I had failed to protect him, and I couldn’t rest until he was brought back to safety. Everything happening when I returned to Fhirdiad blurred together until I had finally found him, and we began our escape.  _ (He crosses down to meet  _ **Dimitri** _ , who perks up in frightened alertness at his presence.)  _ It pained me to see him in such a state; cold, broken, and alone. If only I had been there, I could’ve put a stop to this… 

_ ( _ **Dedue** _ leads the way as the two continue off stage right hurriedly, their hands linked, stopping around centerstage.  _ **Dimitri** _ is considerably weakened, and  _ **Dedue’s** _ condition worsens as they progress.) _

**Dimitri:** I was too dazed to acknowledge his presence. I was baffled that he had risked so much to come back for me. At first, I could barely keep up as we fled the castle, the very knights that were once under my command now pursuing us.  _ ( _ **Dedue** _ falls a bit backwards, putting  _ **Dimitri** _ in the lead. He turns to  _ **Dedue** _ , clinging onto his arms.) _ Dedue had taken one too many blows, my stride became faster than his. He kept insisting he was slowing me down, but he had already been through so much, I couldn’t leave him–

**Dedue:** I wasn’t going to make it, and neither was Dimitri if he stayed with me. All of this would be for nothing if he died, I had to make sure he survived. It was what I had to do. Those years I spent evading destiny had caught up with me.

**Dimitri:** _(Emotional.)_ I couldn’t let go. I told him, Dedue, we’re making it out together. I’m not leaving you!

**Dedue:** _(He wrenches_ **Dimitri’s** _hands off of him, holding onto his wrists.)_ Your Highness, please. You have to go on without me. You need to live.  
  
_(They look into each other’s eyes._ **Dimitri** _realizes the depth of_ **Dedue’s** _sincerity, and he gives him a look that is understanding yet incredibly distraught before finally departing. He comes to center downstage as_ **Dedue** _remains kneeling on the ground behind him, facing away from the audience.)_

**Dimitri:** And so, I left him. I could hear the soldiers catching up on him and the fight that ensued, but I kept running. I didn’t turn around. I didn’t want to make whatever happened to him real… It was the last I saw of him. _(While he continues,_ **Dedue** _slowly rises to stand, his back to_ **Dimitri** _.)_ The one life I had managed to protect slipped out of my grasp. I had failed him… and I felt wretched. _(He begins to unravel, made evident by the severity of his speech and frantic movements behind it.)_ My mind became a prison. I came to despise this thing I had become. My life was worthless aside from as a vehicle of war. I stopped keeping track of the lives I took. None of it mattered anymore. The people I had failed… they came back. _(He reacts as if he’s being crowded upon, retreating within himself, throwing his head in his hands, etc.)_ They haunted me, ceaselessly demanding I avenge them, belittling me for my constant shortcomings. Never a moment’s peace; they were always there, always present, always watching me. The way they looked at me, the way they despised me… I could no longer distinguish them from reality. Their pain became so real to me, I had to suffer for their sake! Out of all the ghosts who harassed me, though, there was always one who struck the worst chord in my heart.

_ ( _ **Dimitri** _ now acknowledges  _ **Dedue** _ , who is still facing away.  _ **Dimitri** _ turns to him, gesturing towards him as he continues.) _

**Dimitri:** The one who I had let down the most. The worst part was that, unlike the others, he was still kind to me.  _ (Bitterly.)  _ He never even dropped the “Your Highness” title. How like him he was.  _ (He lets out a forced laugh, but sharply turns incredibly forlorn. He starts to approach  _ **Dedue’s** _ motionless ghost.)  _ Oh, Dedue… why must you die for me? You must have known how worthless my life was compared to your’s. All I wanted was to see you thrive, to see you flourish, to survive.  _ (He begins to hug  _ **Dedue** _ from behind, sinking into his form like before, burying his head on  _ **Dedue’s** _ shoulder.  _ **Dedue** _ remains unphased throughout the exchange, while  _ **Dimitri** _ is nearly moved to tears.)  _ Without you, my life was agony. How I longed to see you and look upon your face, to see your eyes as bright and vivid as I remembered them, not in the pale, deathly form in which they haunted me. I wanted to feel that you were real and there beside me, just like you had always been during our school days. I was willing to make any bargain with the Goddess, to give up my entire soul just to see you again, even if for a moment.

_ ( _ **Dimitri** _ shudders, a short moment of grief escaping before he forces himself off of  _ **Dedue** _.  _ **Dimitri** _ crosses to downstage left, ashamed of his indulgence.) _

**Dimitri:** I was disgusting, giving in to fantasies that I knew were unobtainable. How dare I bastardize his memory with such impure feelings? Even if I could entertain him being alive, even if by some impossible occurrence he reciprocated, he deserved so much better. How could he have possibly loved me? With a heart so kind, a soul so virtuous, a conscious so forgiving yet determined, he deserved better than an animate corpse. My body functioned, but my soul perished long ago. I was a dead man walking.

_ ( _ **Dimitri** _ cheats out towards offstage left, hidden away as  _ **Dedue** _ turns to come into focus. He seems more assured of himself, but is failing to suppress his own concern.) _

**Dedue:** In the first few days I spent in recovery I was so delirious that I thought I had reached my end, trapped in some nonsensical purgatory. All my mind could focus on was if Dimitri still lived, with memories of our first days together in Fhirdiad flashing through my mind. I wanted to return to him immediately, but as much as I fought my rescuers’ protesting, I could barely even walk, so I had to resign myself. It was often too dangerous for my Duscurian comrades and I to travel far, but even if I could have gotten out, I wouldn’t have known where to look for Dimitri. But I didn’t mind remaining with them for a time since I was able to see remnants of Duscur still living. I helped with anything I could, for there was always much work to be done to secure our safety. My peers often questioned my history with the royal prince of Faerghus, and in his absence, I found myself questioning it, too. My life had taken such a unique course ever since he had saved me during the Tragedy… was this what I was meant to do? And yet, I missed him greatly, constantly praying for his safety, feeling as if a part of my own being was gone. It tortured me not knowing if he was safe or not, if my efforts had succeeded or were in vain.  _ (He expresses a moment of hesitancy, then determinedly continues.)  _ As much as being back in Duscur comforted me, I knew I had to find him, not for any oath I had made, but for my own sake. Admittedly, I was a fool to be motivated so selfishly… I admired him more than I could ever confess to him. His memory was something I came to idealize. Sometimes, he even visited me in my dreams, in some blissful peace where we were unaware of our separation, where I could lay my inhibitions bare….  _ (He pauses again, caught up in his reminiscence, then pulls himself out of it.)  _ But my feelings did not matter, all I knew is that I had to be there to protect him.

_ (He begins to cross downstage, slowly heading towards  _ **Dimitri** _.) _

**Dedue:** I eventually heard word that he was marching upon the Great Bridge of Myrddin with his army. As I drew closer to the site, my heart had been set aflutter with the surrealness of it all. But then I was there, and I thought I was dreaming when I finally laid eyes upon him once again, five long years between us.  _ (He stops, standing on the same level as  _ **Dimitri** _ , but still a good distance apart. He is practically hypnotised by  _ **Dimitri’s** _ presence, who hasn’t spotted  _ **Dedue** _ yet.)  _ He had changed, just like I did. He seemed to inhabit some mournful fury that I had never seen him express so openly. What burdens did he shoulder while I was gone? I blamed myself for not being there for him, but I couldn’t dwell on that now. For now, I had to do what I had always done, and fight for him.

_ (He comes closer to  _ **Dimitri** _ , who now notices him, completely dumbfounded.) _

**Dimitri:** At first, when I saw him, I was convinced he was another apparition, but he was real. He was here, fighting by my side just as he had always done. I could barely even focus on the battle at that point. He seemed different, with new scars that I did not recognize. I wondered if he even recognized me….  _ ( _ **Dedue** _ and  _ **Dimitri** _ start to approach each other, eventually meeting halfway.)  _ Everything else happening passed by in a whirlwind. And then, I was finally able to speak with him.

**Dedue:** When I finally approached him, I explained to him how I had survived. I declared my continued devotion to him, completely voluntarily, just as I had wanted to. But then he made me promise something:   
  
_ (Acting cautiously,  _ **Dimitri** _ hesitates before he places his hand over  _ **Dedue’s** _ heart.) _

**Dimitri:** Do not ever throw your life away again. Understood?

**Dedue:** Your Highness…  _ ( _ **Dedue** _ is breathless, shocked by  _ **Dimitri’s** _ proclamation. Their eyes lock,  _ **Dimitri’s** _ gaze conveying his regret and sincerity. Ever stalwart,  _ **Dedue** _ nods, taking  _ **Dimitri’s** _ extended hand to hold in both of his.)  _ Understood.

_ (Lights fade. End scene.) _

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I quoted the cutscene at the end of Chapter 16 on purpose... but now it has an even sappier context! Melodramatic as it is, I've committed a lot of energy into getting this piece to have the right impact, so thanks for reading! I just feel a whole lot for these two, y'know? If you ever wanna yell at me about Dimidue or anything in general, feel free to reach me at queenofepic on Tumblr or @DivineMemer on Twitter!


End file.
